Standardbreds as a first horse for a beginner.

The horse I started riding with was a standerbred and I'm so thankful for that because they say if you can ride a standerbred pace you can ride pretty much anything lol ;P He was an amazing horse really toke care of his rider's. Just had to put that in :)

I think a standardbred that has been around the block a few times and is used to beginners is good for a green rider, but one that's right off the track is not. I wouldn't let a beginner ride a thoroughbred that was right off the track.
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If you say so, but my trotter has never paced and I'll bet money that if I went down the road to the breeders he'd tell me many Standies will never pace. It'd be like asking a TB to pace. It can be trained in, but if not bred and not trained, well, then frankly, it's not there.

Well my very first horse was a palomino paint mare out of Diamond Eyes (I don't know how many people are familiar with him, he was a halter showing horse and won many awards) well I began riding in march of 2010 and only rode my palomino for about 3-4 weeks when a friend of a friend had to ge rid of their big 16.3hh standardbred. I began riding him with only about 3-4 weeks of riding under my belt so mind you not much experience at all. Anyways, being as big as standardbreds are, he was a little too much for me to handle but I was and still isn't very afraid of these huge animals. I found out pretty recently why he has been a hassle to stop once you get him going. He was trained to do cart racing which I have read is something a lot of standardbreds are trained to do. So over-all my opinion it's more or less up to the confidence of the rider, since I was pretty confident I was fine but it's just up to the rider and how comfortable they feel. (I'm 14 and only had been riding at most 4 weeks) The most important thing is for the rider to feel safe because you don't want something bad to happen which causes them to never want to ride again. I apologize for making this so long.

A sb that is straight of the track would not be sutiable but if the sb has been under saddle for a while they are the best horses for beginners, I have standardbreds and will let anyone ride them.

An ex-racehorse, fresh off the track, of any breed (SB, QH, TB, etc.) would not be suitable for any beginner.

You have two issues with off the track horses: genetics and training.

In all horses breeding counts. If a horse comes from a bloodline that is a "racing" line then all of the genetic selection for racing will be there. This is the material that a trainer will have to work with. Just how it manifests itself in any given horse can vary some, but the variability is narrower than some folks (particularly from the "off the track rescue community") would have you believe.

After a period of seasoning and retraining an ex-racer might prove suitable for a beginner. But all ex-racehorses are, always, ex-racehorses. It's been my obervation that the "race training" can, and will, resurface from time to time as it was very intense and is very deep-seated in the horse's memory. If the quality of "remedial" training is good and the base temperment is good and the rider is capable of handling "flashbacks" then you're OK. But if not...???

Personally, I'd never put a greenie on an ex-racer. I just don't want to take that much risk. There are so many good, quiet horses without the genetic and training baggage I don't see the need to even approach the risk. As the rider skill increases then we can talk about horses with higher levels of potentially risky equine behavior.

G.

Great post Guilherme.

I live in Eastern Kentucky. At our local shows we actually have multiple pacing classes like Open Pacing, Juvenile Pacing, and Championship Pacing. Everyone rides their horse as fast as they can go around the ring (it's very similar to Speed Racking classes) and the horses are judged on speed and form. It's extremely popular down here. And Standardbreds are also the dominate speed racking horses for the most part (Tennessee Walkers and such usually don't get that fast). Have you ever heard of Susie Wright? She owns many speed racking champions and the majority of them are pure Standardbred.
Yeah when I first heard all this after I moved here I was like "WHAT?" lol. But yeah that's how it is here.

If you want to see videos look up "Willard's horse show, KY" on youtube It should bring up some classes from our local shows. :)

I have a 3 year old Standardbred and he is my first Standardbred, I've owned other young horses before.

I have been extremely impressed by his calm and quiet nature. He takes to new things well and is generally pretty good to train. I have yet to put him under saddle but have been doing a lot of round yard and ground work.

I know he was at least trained for racing, but he does not pace at all. He will canter fine in the paddock and on the lunge, and even when keeping up with other horses or whatever he'll leap into a canter.

I think they are good beginner horses because of their temperaments and price, but like all horses you need one with some training. You wouldn't get a Standardbred with only a few months under saddle, nor would you get a QH, TB or Arab.

Most people's standard of "first horse" seems rather high. To me a first horse must be quiet, responsive and reliable. Most first horse owners couldn't afford a well trained horse, but chances are they don't need one either. Just an experienced quiet horse.

Perhaps in parts of America its different, but here if you would want a well trained, experienced, quiet and sound horse you'd be paying thousands of dollars.

I recommend anyone take a year of riding lessons prior to owning a horse. Less than a year you probably won't be skilled enough, and even if you are its not enough time to truly know if you want to continue horse riding.

Take lessons then consider what you want. Look at what disciplines you want to learn or compete in, then you can hopefully find a good horse for what you want to do, whether it be a Standardbred, QH, TB, Warmblood, Morgan etc.

Here is a video from one of our local horse shows. This is Pacing Mares and Geldings:

This one is easier to see: